According to a recent Jupiter Research Study more than half of the roughly 226 million cell phone users in the U.S. texted or instant messaged regularly in 2006.  That number is up from 44 percent in 2005 and is expected to surpass 60 percent by 2011. Add to that the number of people walking around with their iPods permanently adhered to their heads and there’s scarcely an opportunity, or a need, apparently, to have a face-to-face conversation anymore.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not anti-technology. In fact I just got a Blackberry a couple months ago. But as a professional communicator, the growing type rather than talk mindset is very troubling. Even more troubling is the fact that the rate of texting and “IM”ing is considerably higher among users under 25.

As the father of a 2-year-old this makes me wonder what conversation will be like when my daughter has children – texting “please pass the salt” at the dinner table? Passing someone on the street and IMing them a good morning? Maybe even a video text marriage proposal? Wait, I’m sure that’s already happened.

So at the risk of sounding like an old curmudgeon (too late), I call for a move back to interpersonal communication. Put down your cell phone. Shake a hand, say hello and save the next generation of communicators. Now I’ve got to go, my Blackberry is buzzing.

Maria Shriver’s decision to end her career in broadcast journalism really got my mind spinning.  Last week, California’s First Lady told NBC that she would not resume her TV news career.  Her stated reason for departure? The media circus surrounding Anna Nicole’s death.  According to Shriver, “It was then that I knew that the TV news business had changed and so had I … I called NBC News and told them I’m not coming back.”

Let’s look at all the facts, shall we?  In 2004, Shriver announced that she was leaving NBC News because she couldn’t juggle her duties as California’s First Lady and be a journalist at the same time. Hmm.  It’s also interesting to note that if you look back at the top news stories of 2003, a year before Shriver took her leave, you will find the war in Iraq, the loss of the spaceship Columbia, and yes, the Kobe Bryant sex scandal, as the most prominent stories of the year.

So Shriver was still in the news business when a celebrity’s downfall became the nation’s focus. The cynic in me can’t help but ask, “Is Shriver’s disgust with the Anna Nicole coverage merely a cop out for her overextended schedule?”  Is Shriver using the celebrity-obsessed media as a way to get around admitting that she’s tired, or stressed, or maybe just ready to become a political advocate rather than a news personality because she simply can’t have two full-time jobs?

There’s no way to tell for certain.

But Shriver’s statement about a changing media got me thinking about a different issue.  Because I do agree that while the media has always been celebrity-fixated, recently it has become more of an obsession.  One only needs to watch the relentless coverage of Brittany spears’ custody battle, or Lindsay Lohan’s stints in rehab to realize that.

So here is the question I would like to pose.  Is the media changing?  Or are we, as a society changing?  Is it that the media is hungry to cover all access celebrity, all the time, or is it the public who is infatuated with knowing the most personal details of the rich and famous, and the media is merely giving us what we want?  Again, there’s no way to know for certain.

What I do know is that in 2000, not 2004, Maria, reality TV mania hit the U.S, and all forms of television including news, changed as we know it.  And since then with shows like Big Brother, Survivor, and the Surreal Life, we are finding every way, shape and form to watch people at their most vulnerable, and share their day-to-day experiences with them.  And as long as we keep watching, I have no doubt that the reality shows, and the celebrity news coverage will keep coming.

So Maria, I’m sure NBC will miss you.  But perhaps you’re blaming the wrong animal.  If you really left for the reasons you claim, perhaps you’re actually disgusted with your viewers.  Again, we’ll never know.  But if you and Arnold want to make a reality show so people can get to know you and your motivations a little better, I guarantee that people will watch.

Let me just put this out there – it is never okay to stage a fake press conference and play it off as real.  Never.  Let me take that further.  If it’s fake, then make sure at least one member of the Muppets are involved.  If it’s real, don’t let John Philbin run it.

The embattled PR chief of the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) last week staged a press conference related to the wild fires in California.  FEMA’s deputy administrator, retired Vice Adm. Harvey E. Johnson Jr. spoke to a room of FEMA staffers he didn’t recognize who asked him softball questions like, “’Are you happy with FEMA’s response so far?’”  Yes, the media was invited.  They were given one hour’s notice, were able to participate by phone only and had no chance to ask questions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6WYKA5n8fg

Philbin – the ringmaster of the sham press conference – lost the job he was being promoted to: Director of Public Affairs for Mike McConnell, the nation’s top intelligence official.

But is that really enough?  Losing a government PR job?  No!  He should be tarred and feathered.  Or at least have to apologize to the American people for not only defrauding them but for scarring all other government PR professionals.  He should lose a license or be forced to never hold a PR job again.  He should have to wear a red “SPIN” on his sleeve so no one ever trusts him again.

Why am I getting so worked up about this?  One little word: trust.  Yes, even in PR trust matters.  Isn’t that what all our clients are after?  Trust from the people who matter to them.  John Philbin should’ve thought about that before he betrayed the trust of the American people and those suffering in California.  What he did is absolutely despicable and all of us in the PR community should stand up and with one voice reject it.

My walk to work has once again gotten me thinking about our role as marketing and public relations professionals:

A new store just opened in Center City, Philadelphia that dubs itself a “Coffee Tea N Spa.” Sure it sounds reasonable in theory, but a store that offers massages, sandwiches, waxing, hot beverages, free internet, and manicures strikes me as schizophrenic and confused.

A memorable concept from an otherwise forgettable marketing book, Waiting for Your Cat to Bark?, is that you can’t read your own company label from inside the bottle. I’d like to take this one step further and argue that the same holds true if there are multiple labels stuck on the bottle.

So now for the crucial question that every company – big and small, old and new – must confront: Why do you exist?  Who are you and what makes you unique? Every individual and organization needs a core purpose, but it’s often hard to identify the differentiating elements that resonate with your employees and clients alike. Some companies spend their entire life cycle in search of these core elements without ever finding them.  And some companies never come to an understanding that you cannot be all things to all people.

Here at Braithwaite, we’re faced with this issue as we continue to expand beyond our traditional public relations designation and provide branding, business consulting, employee engagement and other services for our clients. While I view this as a reflection of the breadth of talent and experience at our agency, there’s a real danger in having too many labels.

Not sure what I mean? Let’s return to our discussion of the Coffee Tea N Spa, namely the sandwich board outside of the store. Handwritten just above “Check out our Salads and Sandwiches” on the board are the words: “Body Waxing.” I prefer hairless salads, thank you very much. Needless to say, I’ll pass.

Decades from now, the Oct. 6, 2007 New York Islander’s home game against the Buffalo Sabres could be a trivia question. The clue would read, “The New York Islanders were the first professional sports franchise to do what?”

That question would seem tricky to the 16,234 fans who attended. Nothing jumped out as unusual about the Oct. 6th game – except, that is, for the abundance of beautiful women. Celebrity/superstar Christie Brinkley dropped the ceremonial first puck. An equally attractive, though less well-known Heather Kreuzman sang the National Anthem. And the 2007 – 2008 Islanders Ice Girls– boy can they skate! – were introduced along with their new uniforms.

So while the eye-candy was a bit above average, the game itself was unspectacular. The Islanders won 3 – 2. Islanders center Mike Comrie scored two of the team’s three goals in the third period. That’s about all that was exciting.

But, this blog isn’t about the various temperatures of water and women.

So, 20, 30 or 40 years from now, what would the answer to that trivia question be? “[The New York] Islanders became the first professional sports franchise to credential a permanent group of bloggers as part of its press corps – with a press-like area set aside solely for them,” wrote Richard Deitsch in his recent article in Sports Illustrated, “Breaking the Ice.”

This was certainly a historic moment – for all of professional sports, and for journalists and bloggers around the world. The Islanders even gave these bloggers their own “press” box – a “Blog Box.” So does this make a blogger a journalist? Do we have to call them bloggalists? No. And no.

As Andrew Keen brilliantly wrote in “The Cult of the Amateur,” a blogger is not a journalist. Andrew argues that bloggers do little to expand, enhance or enrich public conversation and debate. This argument could go either way. Unlike journalists who are obligated to write from an unbiased perspective, bloggers have the ability to not only take a stand, but champion it.   And this brings up the sticky topic of whether or not there really are any media sources without a bias or agenda driving their reporting.

So while all these questions are up for debate, this Islanders game made one thing crystal clear. Bloggers are no longer regarded as a group of fringe writers. They have credibility and they have power.  Moreover, they have a voice, and people are listening.

And just like any news source, blogs should be analyzed, evaluated and critiqued. Speaking of which, how are we doing? Let us know – contact us or post a comment here.